The present paper aims to argue that the simple nouns in modern Chinese are the nouns of the basic-level category, which is the cognitively basic category, i.e, the first level categorization with the properities of being the level of distinctive action, being the earliest learned level at which things are first maned, and being a nutural level of categorization. Simple nouns in Chinese are first defined and discussed, then the basic-level category is introduced, and lastly, the relationship between simple nouns and the basic-level category is established. The implication, the problem, and the suggestion for further study are given in the conclusion.